Page 28 of Watch Me Burn
Grimacing, I ran my large hands through my black waves, narrowing my eyes at the road. I couldn’t let Anna run my mind. I needed to adjust to reality.
We were split. This investigation was over. I would be her dad’s murderer for the rest of my life. I was a criminal. No, worse: a cold-blooded killer. And that was how everyone would see me for the remainder of my life.
We’d just finished milling into the living room for attendance when a vibration rumbled in my pocket. Slipping my phone out secretly, I glimpsed who the caller was.
“Nathan Hudson,” I blurted out of shock. Anna had passed his number along, but I never thought he’d actually call.
Clearing her throat, our wart-cheeked, stocky female inspector stomped her foot on the hardwood floor, looking straight at me.
“No calls while I’m here and no scrolling through Instagram to check your coke-snorting girlfriend’s nudes,” she bellowed.
Geez, no wonder there wasn’t a ring to be gleaned on that wrinkled set of fingers.
I silenced the call.
“Yes, ma’am,” we all mumbled.
I tapped my feet on the floor impatiently. In the main floor bathroom, canines were dragging out a plastic bag of adult sex toys that one of my roommates wondrously decided to stash in there of all places.
Nudging my shoulder, some new guy remarked, “I did notice something smelt fishy near there.” I eyed him disapprovingly, then joined him in a burst of chuckles. Catching the head inspector’s glare, I brought my gaze back up to the opposite wall.
Thankfully, having one stupid roommate was enough to end the inspection early and we were left to get back to what we were doing.
Chest lightened, I scurried to distance myself from the others in the house’s small backyard, giving a smoker a dirty look so they wouldn’t hang around while I made my call.
“Please pick up,” I murmured as the phone rang and rang. Soon enough, my phone’s dialing noise stopped. It’d been running so long that I truly believed Nathan directed me to voicemail—and thank god I was wrong.
“Ethan?” he asked once we connected. I released a breath I never realized I was holding, pressing my phone firmly to my ear.
“Yeah, it’s me. You’re Nathan, right? Anna’s brother?” I replied.
“It’s been a long time, my friend. Hey, listen, sorry for calling you like this, but I was wondering if you guys found out anything about my dad’s real killer? Anna is acting all weird when I ask her.”
Knitting my eyebrows, I said, “Well, that’s because it’s kinda on hold.”
“On hold?”
“Yeah. Hasn’t she told you about the diner?”
A brief pause filled the line. “No. What diner?”
“Sorry, but it’s not my place to tell you.”
“You still choose my sister over me, huh?” Nathan joked. “Even back then, you two would gang up against me. I guess not much has changed.”
His remarks irritated me a little. I was fucking stuck in hell for fifteen years.
“A lot has changed. Don’t waste your time on me no more. The investigation is pretty much as good as dead.”
An awkward silence followed.
“Sorry,” I started slowly. “I gotta go. But it was good to hear from you.”
Nathan muttered a few things under his breath, then sighed. “I get it. Sure. Let me talk to Anna and see if I can help with anything.”
My heart sank. This guy used to be my best friend once. But like everybody else, he had made me a killer without even thinking twice. Not once did he call me or visit me in prison.
I frowned. “Do what you gotta do. See you around.”
